Related Clinical Services

Children's Hospital Aids Program Mental Health Care

The challenges of struggling with a life-threatening, highly stigmatized illness are profound for many HIV-positive patients in the Children's Hospital AIDS Program (CHAP) at Boston Children's Hospital.

Issues such as depression, bereavement, stress, medication adherence, school adjustment and teen sexuality can make it very difficult for our CHAP patients and their families. And when poverty is also part of the struggle, the challenge can be overwhelming.

Our caregivers reach out to children, adolescents, parents and guardians to help them cope with a variety of medical, emotional and financial issues. We also help them work with state and local agencies and assist them with any cultural and language barriers they may face.

"Every one of our children has problems that go far beyond medicine; every one of them will deal with depression and adolescent issues."CHAP Clinical Director, Sandra Burchett, MD

Our social workers

Our social workers are important members of the CHAP health care team. They provide a range of services to an ethnically diverse group of HIV-positive children, adolescents and families.

We are grateful to have been ranked #1 on U.S. News & World Report's list of the best children's hospitals in the nation for the third year in a row, an honor we could not have achieved without the patients and families who inspire us to do our very best for them. Thanks to you, Boston Children's is a place where we can write the greatest children's stories ever told.”